"Would I ever leave this company? Look, I’m all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I’m being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I’m going wherever they value loyalty the most."
- Dwight Schrute
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Quote of the day
"It's hard to get women to golf. Women are perfectionists. If a woman is golfing and she hits a tree, she feels bad. She thinks she's made a mistake. If a guy hits a tree, he blames the groundskeeper."
- A (female) golf expert
- A (female) golf expert
First Maya Angelou, then Emma
My colleague Bruce declared last week that on Monday our office would go sarcasm free. Apparently, he gets confused. He probably realizes that a lot of what I say "jokingly" I actually mean.
Deprived of sarcasm, I am forced to seek new and creative methods of speaking my mind. Hence, this poem:
Bruce is ugly
Bruce is not cute
When I see Bruce
I want to shoot
It was very well received by my colleagues. Who knows? If I keep this up, I may be invited to read at Sarah Palin's inauguration in 2013.
Deprived of sarcasm, I am forced to seek new and creative methods of speaking my mind. Hence, this poem:
Bruce is ugly
Bruce is not cute
When I see Bruce
I want to shoot
It was very well received by my colleagues. Who knows? If I keep this up, I may be invited to read at Sarah Palin's inauguration in 2013.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Day 5: Grand finale
So, as my final unusual and different activity this week, I attended a party hosted by my colleague Bojan. I'd been invited awhile back, but I didn't think I'd go. I try to be careful about extracurricular consorting with colleagues. Then, of course, came my idea for a week of dangerous blogging. This was a perfect fit.
There were 4 other colleagues and 3 of Bojan's non-work friends (plus 2 interns but they only stayed an hour.) Bojan has a very nice apartment not too far from my house. We chatted around the bar in his kitchen as he mixed drinks. One of his friends works for British-American Tobacco (not kidding) and brought several boxes of the Dunhill cigarettes that he gets for free. I don't get anything for free from my employers. Well, of course, we have been hit by the global economic downturn, whereas his industry is recession-proof.
Piotr, a Russian friend of Bojan's, was visiting Holland for a wedding. He and his wife live in London. After he'd had a few drinks, he began to tell me about his misery at having to live in a house in a very posh neighborhood that is paid for and fully decorated by...his mother. "I think it would have been better if she'd just made the down payment, but she insists on paying the mortgage and, thus, she can decorate the house in the way she wants and come over all the time."
When I asked him how his wife feels about this arrangement, he prevaricated. Actually, an interfering mother-in-law is probably the least of their problems. Later in the night, he was buying drinks for women, dancing and...how do I put this?...not behaving like a married man.
So yes, we went out to a club. Bojan had announced beforehand that around midnight we'd hit the town. Normally, that is so not my thing. But this week is all about the abnormal. First, we hit a club called Havana. I got in fine, but, for some reason, the bouncers wouldn't let Bojan in. So we moved on to a club called Hofman. It was the usual loud music and drinking type place. I'd had a few glasses of prosecco, but I was still far too sober to see a group of stiff-hipped northern-european high-earning young professionals trying to 'get down' as anything other than awkward.
Bojan did slighly better than the rest because he embraces his awkwardness. He was trying to teach me dance moves like "the lawn mower" and "the shopping cart."
At around 3am, I decided I should quit while I was ahead. I made my usual 5-minute walk home. The streets were full of people. I thought I'd be too wired to sleep, but I actually dropped off within minutes. What can I say? It wasn't an edifying evening, but it was certainly unusual and different. And, man, was it fun.
There were 4 other colleagues and 3 of Bojan's non-work friends (plus 2 interns but they only stayed an hour.) Bojan has a very nice apartment not too far from my house. We chatted around the bar in his kitchen as he mixed drinks. One of his friends works for British-American Tobacco (not kidding) and brought several boxes of the Dunhill cigarettes that he gets for free. I don't get anything for free from my employers. Well, of course, we have been hit by the global economic downturn, whereas his industry is recession-proof.
Piotr, a Russian friend of Bojan's, was visiting Holland for a wedding. He and his wife live in London. After he'd had a few drinks, he began to tell me about his misery at having to live in a house in a very posh neighborhood that is paid for and fully decorated by...his mother. "I think it would have been better if she'd just made the down payment, but she insists on paying the mortgage and, thus, she can decorate the house in the way she wants and come over all the time."
When I asked him how his wife feels about this arrangement, he prevaricated. Actually, an interfering mother-in-law is probably the least of their problems. Later in the night, he was buying drinks for women, dancing and...how do I put this?...not behaving like a married man.
So yes, we went out to a club. Bojan had announced beforehand that around midnight we'd hit the town. Normally, that is so not my thing. But this week is all about the abnormal. First, we hit a club called Havana. I got in fine, but, for some reason, the bouncers wouldn't let Bojan in. So we moved on to a club called Hofman. It was the usual loud music and drinking type place. I'd had a few glasses of prosecco, but I was still far too sober to see a group of stiff-hipped northern-european high-earning young professionals trying to 'get down' as anything other than awkward.
Bojan did slighly better than the rest because he embraces his awkwardness. He was trying to teach me dance moves like "the lawn mower" and "the shopping cart."
At around 3am, I decided I should quit while I was ahead. I made my usual 5-minute walk home. The streets were full of people. I thought I'd be too wired to sleep, but I actually dropped off within minutes. What can I say? It wasn't an edifying evening, but it was certainly unusual and different. And, man, was it fun.
Day 4: Undercover adventure
My original intention had been to attend a lecture on swine flu this evening. I had a pretty tough day at work, and I was a bit tired from my adventures earlier in the week. Moreover, I think a lot of the reaction to swine flu is overdone. So I decided to pursue a quiet adventure behind my laptop at home.
What I did is slightly confidential, so I won't write more about it. However, if you've been following the week of adventurous blogging with breathless anticipation and simply must know what it was, please feel free to drop me a note. I'd be happy to tell you about it.
What I did is slightly confidential, so I won't write more about it. However, if you've been following the week of adventurous blogging with breathless anticipation and simply must know what it was, please feel free to drop me a note. I'd be happy to tell you about it.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Day 3: Another home run
I'm very pleased to report that day 3 of my week of pursuing all things unusual and interesting was a success. This evening I attended a gathering of expats via Meetup.com - a website that let's you form clubs around a common interest anywhere in the world. I was pretty active in a similar group in Berlin last year.
We met up at Cafe Quignon on the old canal here. There were about ten people (late twenties, early thirties). Nationalites ranging from English, Austrian, German and one fellow American. The American works for an organic produce company. He says he was lured to Holland by the prospect of the title "Senior Account Manager." I responded (only half jokingly) that there's few places in the world I wouldn't move if it would add the word "senior" to my job title.
One German guy who works for an IT firm here complained about how Dutch people love meetings so much. I feel his pain.
I talked to a guy who works for a division of another Dutch bank. I made the blitz by knowing that that division used to be owned by my bank. He will soon be unemployed, poor guy, because the division is being shut down because it's unprofitable. Yep, my bank is smart, and we're ruthless.
I chatted with an Italian guy who is about to start working for an American company. I explained that he should plan for long work days and no vacations. He should be sure never to say anything anti-gun or anti-death penalty. And never ever ever say anything bad about America. If he sticks to this, he'll do fine.
So tja, I could list many more examples of what was said. It was an evening full of conversation and laughter. This meetup group is fairly active, so I'm looking forward to more events in the future. The best part of the evening, as it is of many of my evenings out, is my 5-minute walk home. It's so wonderful to live right in the city centre. A cup of tea, warmth from the furnace, checking my facebook...and I begin to recharge for my next day of adventure.
We met up at Cafe Quignon on the old canal here. There were about ten people (late twenties, early thirties). Nationalites ranging from English, Austrian, German and one fellow American. The American works for an organic produce company. He says he was lured to Holland by the prospect of the title "Senior Account Manager." I responded (only half jokingly) that there's few places in the world I wouldn't move if it would add the word "senior" to my job title.
One German guy who works for an IT firm here complained about how Dutch people love meetings so much. I feel his pain.
I talked to a guy who works for a division of another Dutch bank. I made the blitz by knowing that that division used to be owned by my bank. He will soon be unemployed, poor guy, because the division is being shut down because it's unprofitable. Yep, my bank is smart, and we're ruthless.
I chatted with an Italian guy who is about to start working for an American company. I explained that he should plan for long work days and no vacations. He should be sure never to say anything anti-gun or anti-death penalty. And never ever ever say anything bad about America. If he sticks to this, he'll do fine.
So tja, I could list many more examples of what was said. It was an evening full of conversation and laughter. This meetup group is fairly active, so I'm looking forward to more events in the future. The best part of the evening, as it is of many of my evenings out, is my 5-minute walk home. It's so wonderful to live right in the city centre. A cup of tea, warmth from the furnace, checking my facebook...and I begin to recharge for my next day of adventure.
Day 2: Staying the course
Day 2 of my week of adventurous blogging was a little bit less interesting than day 1, so I've added some photos to spruce up this post.
The entire area around my office is one huge construction zone which will remake Utrecht in the coming decades. The resulting confusion (and road rage) during rush hour is one of the reasons I prefer walking to biking. The city of Utrecht has set up an information center to persuade the long-sufering populace that there is method to their madness. And this information center is literally next door to my office. I always breeze right by. So today I thought it would be unusual and interesting to stop in and take a look.
The entrance hallway is lined with photos of babies of various races and genders who will all be old and grey or maybe even deceased by the time the construction is finished. This one reminded me a bit of my nephew Jack:
The center contained an 'artist's rendering' of what the new city will look like. I am pretty sure this one is supposed to be my office building:
The center had many other expensive-looking models, timetables and posters with slogans about how this construction project will bring us all together, etc. To me, though, the best part was their coffee machine that dispenses Douwe-Egberts coffee (a true Dutch brand, roasted right here in Utrecht) for free. Now that is something that brings people together. Delicious, free coffee. Taxpayer money well spent.
The entire area around my office is one huge construction zone which will remake Utrecht in the coming decades. The resulting confusion (and road rage) during rush hour is one of the reasons I prefer walking to biking. The city of Utrecht has set up an information center to persuade the long-sufering populace that there is method to their madness. And this information center is literally next door to my office. I always breeze right by. So today I thought it would be unusual and interesting to stop in and take a look.
The entrance hallway is lined with photos of babies of various races and genders who will all be old and grey or maybe even deceased by the time the construction is finished. This one reminded me a bit of my nephew Jack:
The center contained an 'artist's rendering' of what the new city will look like. I am pretty sure this one is supposed to be my office building:
The center had many other expensive-looking models, timetables and posters with slogans about how this construction project will bring us all together, etc. To me, though, the best part was their coffee machine that dispenses Douwe-Egberts coffee (a true Dutch brand, roasted right here in Utrecht) for free. Now that is something that brings people together. Delicious, free coffee. Taxpayer money well spent.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Aside: Something I read today
For the kingdom of God is a not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
Romans 14:17
Romans 14:17
Day 1: Hitting the ground running
I'm pleased to tell you that the first day of my week of blogging dangerously was a success! I decided to go to the "Politieke Cafe" - a monthly event organized in Utrecht by the youth division of my political party. Basically, they rent a room in a bar, serve beer and a speaker gives a talk on some kind of current subject.
My night almost failed to launch because I got lost trying the find the bar - even though it's quite near my house. (BTW, I live in a very nice neighborhood so I'm not literally blogging dangerously.) I arrived late, but the atmosphere was pretty casual so it was OK.
The speaker was the head of some kind of urban renewal foundation who talked about the challenges cities will face in the years to come. All in all, it was a very grim talk. He said that seventy percent of minors in both Amsterdam and Rotterdam don't have a 'start kwalificatie' which, I gather, means they're not well situated to achieve financial idependence, e.g., they have substandard education, have a psychological or physical condition, already have a child, etc.
This was a little bit awkward as he was addressing a group of young people who are, in fact, well situated to achieve financial independence (and probably a good deal more than that).
I would have felt more depressed by his talk, but I was distracted by his dreadful powerpoint. I edit powerpoints for my work, and this one made all the usual mistakes plus a few I had never seen before.
The best part of the night, however, came after the lecture. The chair of the youth division's next conference invited us over to his house next Monday for a pre-discussion of one of the policy statements to be reviewed at the conference. I approached him to express my interest in attending and request a copy of said statement. This led to a wide-ranging discussion with several people on how much of your personal life to share with your colleagues, whether the Hague is like Washington, DC, if Facebook could possibly get any more awesome than it is, etc. One guy shared that he had attended the university which produced about one-third of my department, but that he'd transferred after a year because he found the curriculum to be too easy. Interesting.
I got to hand out a few business cards (which, to me, is the ultimate sign of a succesful evening) and made some new contacts. So tonight's interesting and unusual event will, hopefully, lead to more such events for me in the future. And, of course, that is really what this week is all about.
My night almost failed to launch because I got lost trying the find the bar - even though it's quite near my house. (BTW, I live in a very nice neighborhood so I'm not literally blogging dangerously.) I arrived late, but the atmosphere was pretty casual so it was OK.
The speaker was the head of some kind of urban renewal foundation who talked about the challenges cities will face in the years to come. All in all, it was a very grim talk. He said that seventy percent of minors in both Amsterdam and Rotterdam don't have a 'start kwalificatie' which, I gather, means they're not well situated to achieve financial idependence, e.g., they have substandard education, have a psychological or physical condition, already have a child, etc.
This was a little bit awkward as he was addressing a group of young people who are, in fact, well situated to achieve financial independence (and probably a good deal more than that).
I would have felt more depressed by his talk, but I was distracted by his dreadful powerpoint. I edit powerpoints for my work, and this one made all the usual mistakes plus a few I had never seen before.
The best part of the night, however, came after the lecture. The chair of the youth division's next conference invited us over to his house next Monday for a pre-discussion of one of the policy statements to be reviewed at the conference. I approached him to express my interest in attending and request a copy of said statement. This led to a wide-ranging discussion with several people on how much of your personal life to share with your colleagues, whether the Hague is like Washington, DC, if Facebook could possibly get any more awesome than it is, etc. One guy shared that he had attended the university which produced about one-third of my department, but that he'd transferred after a year because he found the curriculum to be too easy. Interesting.
I got to hand out a few business cards (which, to me, is the ultimate sign of a succesful evening) and made some new contacts. So tonight's interesting and unusual event will, hopefully, lead to more such events for me in the future. And, of course, that is really what this week is all about.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Blogging doldrums
I've been neglecting The Green Stick. I admit that I've been putting most of my online social networking energies into Facebook. But, to be honest, I also don't have much to blog about. I'm very busy with my work. That's (still) going extremely well. But I think it's prudent to avoid writing about your job on a public blog. Also, the dilemmas which fill my days at the office - putting commas around participle phrases, whether or not to capitalize 'asset turnover' - don't make for fascinating reading.
This weekend I was getting a bit depressed reading The Letters and Journals of Katherine Mansfield. She had such an exciting life full of ideas and conversation, and there I was sitting in my apartment. This situation is completely unncessary, of course. I'm young, healthy and free, and I live right in the center of a lively city.
This upcoming week will be a bit unusual for me. In order to collaborate more closely with colleagues in a different time zone on a report with a tight deadline, I will be working late each evening but also starting later in the morning. This means I will get to sleep in, and I'll be free from my usual strict 10:30pm work-night bedtime.
Thus, I've decided to kill several birds with one stone by setting myself a blogging challenge. I will do something unusual and interesting every night this week and then blog about it. Just to leave myself an escape hatch: trying a new recipe will qualify as "unusual and interesting." But hopefully, at least one or two of the evenings will be more adventurous than that.
So stay tuned for the week of blogging dangerously...
This weekend I was getting a bit depressed reading The Letters and Journals of Katherine Mansfield. She had such an exciting life full of ideas and conversation, and there I was sitting in my apartment. This situation is completely unncessary, of course. I'm young, healthy and free, and I live right in the center of a lively city.
This upcoming week will be a bit unusual for me. In order to collaborate more closely with colleagues in a different time zone on a report with a tight deadline, I will be working late each evening but also starting later in the morning. This means I will get to sleep in, and I'll be free from my usual strict 10:30pm work-night bedtime.
Thus, I've decided to kill several birds with one stone by setting myself a blogging challenge. I will do something unusual and interesting every night this week and then blog about it. Just to leave myself an escape hatch: trying a new recipe will qualify as "unusual and interesting." But hopefully, at least one or two of the evenings will be more adventurous than that.
So stay tuned for the week of blogging dangerously...
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Undutchable
Is life in Holland making me weak? That was the question occupying my mind this morning as I trudged to my doctor's office for my fourth appointment in 6 months. When I lived in the US, I probably visited my doctor 4 times in 6 years.
Tja, my neck hurts, the doctor's office is nearby and I'm insured to within an inch of my life. So why not? (FYI: I have a strained muscle. Annoying, but apparently it's nothing to worry about).
In the waiting room I read Dutch women's magazine Libelle. Together with its sister publication Margriet, Libelle determines every aspect of a middle-aged Dutch woman's life. Flipping through its pages is like taking the pulse of society.
This morning I read an article by a woman who explained that she recently had a Kate Chopin-esque revelation that she's been miserable for the past 15 years. Why? She and her husband run their own business. "I've always had to work 4 or even 5 days a week." Yes, they took vacations, but when she had the flu she always had to be back at work "within a week." As I headed to my office (where I work always work five days a week) I wondered if in 15 years I'll be writing such a letter.
This is fairly inocuous compared to some of the other content dished out by Libelle and Margriet. During a previous doctor's visit, I read a letter from a woman: "My husband is a good father, but sometimes I think I could be happier. Should I leave him?" The editor's advice to her was "Make a pros and cons list." (I can just imagine...Pro: I always get to choose which TV show to watch. Con: My kids have to live between 2 separate houses.)
Ironically, today I also had to pick up the physical manifestation of my Dutch nationality: my new passport. I blithely walked over to the town hall during my lunch break assuming that since I had already filled out the forms, paid etc. picking it up would take about 5 minutes. I assumed wrong. It took over 30 minutes for my number to come up. And when it did, a middle-aged Dutch woman, presumably a Libelle reader, tried to cut in ahead of me. I politely but firmly told her that I was late to get back to my office and that I was going to be helped first.
I may be getting weak, but I'm still not that weak.
Tja, my neck hurts, the doctor's office is nearby and I'm insured to within an inch of my life. So why not? (FYI: I have a strained muscle. Annoying, but apparently it's nothing to worry about).
In the waiting room I read Dutch women's magazine Libelle. Together with its sister publication Margriet, Libelle determines every aspect of a middle-aged Dutch woman's life. Flipping through its pages is like taking the pulse of society.
This morning I read an article by a woman who explained that she recently had a Kate Chopin-esque revelation that she's been miserable for the past 15 years. Why? She and her husband run their own business. "I've always had to work 4 or even 5 days a week." Yes, they took vacations, but when she had the flu she always had to be back at work "within a week." As I headed to my office (where I work always work five days a week) I wondered if in 15 years I'll be writing such a letter.
This is fairly inocuous compared to some of the other content dished out by Libelle and Margriet. During a previous doctor's visit, I read a letter from a woman: "My husband is a good father, but sometimes I think I could be happier. Should I leave him?" The editor's advice to her was "Make a pros and cons list." (I can just imagine...Pro: I always get to choose which TV show to watch. Con: My kids have to live between 2 separate houses.)
Ironically, today I also had to pick up the physical manifestation of my Dutch nationality: my new passport. I blithely walked over to the town hall during my lunch break assuming that since I had already filled out the forms, paid etc. picking it up would take about 5 minutes. I assumed wrong. It took over 30 minutes for my number to come up. And when it did, a middle-aged Dutch woman, presumably a Libelle reader, tried to cut in ahead of me. I politely but firmly told her that I was late to get back to my office and that I was going to be helped first.
I may be getting weak, but I'm still not that weak.
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